Back To My Mac, Confessions of a Reluctant Apostate

2 minute read

Rethinking Fanboyism

Two years after replacing my Apple Macbook Pro laptop with a Dell running
Ubuntu Linux I’m going back to Apple. I moved away from Apple for a mixture of
philosophical and practical reasons. One of the main reasons was my belief in
the importance of a viable linux desktop operating system. The backflip came
about because I feel happier when using Apple products. In my attempts to get
away from Apple I think I’ve learned more about why they have been so
successful.

Android was the Catalyst

I didn’t get a smartphone until mid 2011 and even then it was mainly because
the battery on my Nokia was needing to be charged nightly. I picked up an HTC
Sensation and began hating it almost immediately. I’m usually pretty good at
pointing out flaws but the HTC was a bit of a mystery to me. While I can list a
few flaws (battery not lasting a day is one!) I just didn’t like using it.
After three months I decided to buy my first iPhone.

I Feel Love

So this is the fucked up thing. Within 30 minutes I was texting people to tell
them how much I love my new iPhone. It may make me sound like a total fanboy
but even while I was in the store I was bonding with the device. It feels wrong
saying I love a machine but at the same time I’m curious how it could elicit
such emotions. I can only put it down to the design of both hardware and
software.

The Cathedral and The Bazaar

Steve Jobs was the high priest at Apple. We’re told he was obsessive about
detail and that it was his way or the highway. Part of the reason I avoided
getting an iPhone was the control exerted over the distribution of Apps through
the App Store. I was surprised and disappointed by my first experience of the
Android Marketplace. A search for “shopping list” returned hundreds of apps
with no indication which were most downloaded or highly rated. Maybe you can’t
design an OS or phone by committee?

Get Out of my Way

If I’m going to be iPhone boy then life would be easier if I used OSX on my desktop.

It’s been about 4 years since I last bought a new Macbook Pro. My efforts to
avoid vendor lockin are now being replaced by efforts to avoid unproductive
work (like debugging problems printing from Ubuntu 11.10). I want to get on
with the fun stuff and OSX just seems to make the fun stuff so much easier.

So What Now for Freedom?

I was shocked earlier this year to hear a techie say he wouldn’t care if the
linux desktop went away because he’s happy with OSX. My issue is that Apple
could make OSX unpleasant at some point in the future and without a viable
alternative to switch to we would just have to accept it.

I don’t think me going back to Apple is going to make an ounce of difference to
Linux but what would the world be like if everyone followed this path? I guess
I’m no longer willing to sacrifice my own happiness trying to support this
particular ideal.

Well Done Steve (and Company)

The iPhone and Macbook Pro are masterpieces. (I didn’t mention I’ve had an iPad
for the past 12 months and love it to bits). I tried to extract myself from
this web of awesome production but have failed because they are so well
designed. I would love to create something as compelling.